Former WWE Champion describes treatment as ‘spit in the face’ before shock exit-Alistair McGeorge-Entertainment – Metro

Bobby Lashley has hit out at WWE for the way his career went over the last couple of years (Picture: WWE)

Bobby Lashley has insisted it felt like a ‘spit in the face’ to see Hurt Business being passed over before his WWE exit.

The former world champion was part of the hugely popular group alongside MVP, Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander, but while fans and the performers were desperate for a reunion last year, it never happened.

The All Mighty left WWE over summer, and he has now claimed the new ‘regime’ – which is led by Triple H, following Vince McMahon’s departure – weren’t behind the faction.

‘It was kind of a spit in the face. We were never in front of a live crowd. During the pandemic, a lot of guys sat at home, “I’m not going to do this or that”, and it was us saying, “It’s work. We’re going,”‘ he recalled.

He added during a virtual signing for K&S WrestleFest: ‘We did everything. We were on half the show most the time. We came out of the pandemic and people started resurfacing, “Oh, I’m ready to work.”

‘What about the guys who were putting the time in during this dangerous time? We got overlooked. That was a little bit of a spit in the face. I think we could have come back and done some big things together.’

Fans, and wrestlers, were gutted not to see Hurt Business more (Picture: WWE)

Lashley represented Donald Trump at WrestleMania 23 in the Battle of the Billionaires (Picture: Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

While he acknowledged people have ‘different’ tastes as far as wrestling goes, Lashley suggested the new people in charge weren’t ‘high’ on him as a performer.

He added: ‘They just didn’t want us. Different strokes for different folks. Different people like different things. When the regime changed, the regime wasn’t too high on me at all.’

Fans are still waiting to find out what Lashley will be doing since leaving WWE a few months ago, particularly since MVP and Benjamin have recently debuted on All Elite Wrestling.

Hurt Business alumni Shelton Benjamin and MVP are in AEW (Picture: AEW/Ricky Havlik)

AEW remains an option, and while recent reports have claimed the 48-year-old star has already signed, he has insisted he’s keeping his options open for the time being.

‘I have a few wrestling offers on the table. I have a few boxing matches, MMA matches, a lot of stuff on the table,’ he said during the signing. ‘I have a lot more left in the tank. I can’t wait to jump back out there.’

Lashley suffered an injury earlier in the year which meant he’s been taking some time to ‘fix’ himself, but he’s ‘feeling good right now’.

He teased: ‘I’ve been working out hard. I think the next few weeks we should see something, something pop off. It’s time to put pen to paper and give back to these fans.’

As a member of the US Army, he initially excelled as an amateur wrestler, and went onto join WWE in 2005, starting in Ohio Valley Wrestling before joining SmackDown in 2005.

He left the company three years later and spent time on the independent scene and with TNA Wrestling (then known as IMPACT), and then returned to WWE in 2018.

One of his most famous matches came in 2007 at WrestleMania 23, when he represented Donald Trump in the Battle of the Billionaires against Umaga, who was wrestling for Vince McMahon, and won.

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